21-letter words containing o, a, f
- program temporary fix — (programming) (PTF) (Colloquially: Probably This Fixes) An IBM sanctioned patch, often implemented using ZAP or SUPERZAP.
- promoter of the faith — devil's advocate (def 2).
- psychological warfare — the use of propaganda, threats, and other psychological techniques to mislead, intimidate, demoralize, or otherwise influence the thinking or behavior of an opponent.
- pull sth out of a hat — To pull something out of the hat means to do something unexpected which helps you to succeed, often when you are failing.
- radius of convergence — a positive number so related to a given power series that the power series converges for every number whose absolute value is less than this particular number.
- range of significance — the set of subjects for which a given predicate is intelligible
- reconnaissance flight — a flight made by an aircraft in order to obtain military information about a particular place
- record of achievement — a statement of the personal and educational development of each pupil
- reinforcement therapy — a behavior modification technique in which appropriate behavior is strengthened through systematic reinforcement.
- reverberatory furnace — See at reverberatory (def 2).
- road traffic accident — an accident involving vehicles
- rutherford scattering — the scattering of an alpha particle through a large angle with respect to the original direction of motion of the particle, caused by an atom (Rutherford atom) with most of the mass and all of the positive electric charge concentrated at a center or nucleus.
- safe in the knowledge — If you do something safe in the knowledge that something else is the case, you do the first thing confidently because you are sure of the second thing.
- saint-maur-des-fosses — a town in N central France, near Paris, on the Marne River.
- sales finance company — a finance company that purchases, at a discount, installment contracts from dealers or that finances retail sales.
- saponification number — the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to saponify one gram of a given ester, especially a glyceride.
- satisficing behaviour — the form of behaviour demonstrated by firms who seek satisfactory profits and satisfactory growth rather than maximum profits
- scarlet monkey flower — any of various plants belonging to the genus Mimulus, of the figwort family, as M. cardinalis (scarlet monkey flower) having spotted flowers that resemble a face.
- schema definition set — (SDS) Something in Portable Common Tool Environment.
- school of hard knocks — the experience gained from living, especially from disappointment and hard work, regarded as a means of education: The only school he ever attended was the school of hard knocks.
- self-characterization — portrayal; description: the actor's characterization of a politician.
- sieve of eratosthenes — a method of obtaining prime numbers by sifting out the composite numbers from the set of natural numbers so that only prime numbers remain.
- silicon tetrafluoride — a colorless, fuming gas, SiF 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fluosilicic acid.
- skeleton at the feast — a person or event that brings gloom or sadness to an occasion of joy or celebration
- snap one's fingers at — any of the terminal members of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
- social stratification — the act or an instance of stratifying.
- south pacific current — an ocean current that flows E in the South Pacific Ocean parallel to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
- sovereign wealth fund — an investment fund created using the financial assets of a national government
- spotted alfalfa aphid — a pale yellowish aphid, Therioaphis maculata, of the southern U.S., especially west of the Mississippi River, that is marked with black spots and has fine spines on its back: a pest mainly of alfalfa and some other legumes, as clover.
- staffordshire terrier — former name of American Staffordshire terrier.
- stare one in the face — to be glaringly obvious or imminent
- stations of the cross — a series of 14 crosses, often accompanied by 14 pictures or carvings, arranged in order around the walls of a church, to commemorate 14 supposed stages in Christ's journey to Calvary
- steer clear of sb/sth — If you steer clear of someone or something, you deliberately avoid them.
- step-down transformer — a device that transfers an alternating current from one circuit to one or more other circuits with a decrease of voltage
- sun protection factor — SPF.
- surface acoustic wave — an acoustic wave generated on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate: used as a filter in electronic circuits
- surface friction drag — the part of the drag on a body moving through a fluid that is dependent on the nature of the surface of the body
- surface of projection — the surface upon which an image or a set of points is projected.
- surface of revolution — a surface formed by revolving a plane curve about a given line.
- surface-to-underwater — (of a missile, message, etc.) traveling from the surface of the earth to a target underwater.
- symphonie fantastique — a programmatic symphony (1830–31) in five movements by Hector Berlioz.
- take off one's hat to — a shaped covering for the head, usually with a crown and brim, especially for wear outdoors.
- take one's (own) life — to commit suicide
- take one's finger out — stop delaying or procrastinating
- take one's hat off to — to salute or congratulate
- take/come into effect — If a law or policy takes effect or comes into effect at a particular time, it officially begins to apply or be valid from that time. If it remains in effect, it still applies or is still valid.
- teacher certification — official qualifications for educators
- tetrabromofluorescein — eosin (def 1).
- the acting profession — actors considered as a group
- the apple of your eye — If you say that someone is the apple of your eye, you mean that they are very important to you and you are extremely fond of them.